Draft — pending legal review. Not yet a binding policy.

Trust is the product

How Apha reviews.

Payment never changes editorial scores or verdicts. It can only ever change WHERE an already-matching venue appears — and every time it does, the page says so, in plain words, before the venue’s name.

The four trust labels

Venue facts verified

A founder visited this venue in person and confirmed its facts — hours, Wi-Fi, plugs, laptop policy. This is NOT an endorsement: a verified venue can still score poorly on any given dimension. Verified means checked, not recommended.

Sponsored

This venue paid for its position in this list. Payment can only move where a venue already appears — it can never insert a venue that doesn’t already match your search, and it never changes that venue’s score, verdict, or any fact on its page.

Hosted visit

The founder’s visit to this venue was hosted (e.g. a complimentary meal or stay) rather than paid for anonymously as a customer. Disclosed so you can weigh it yourself.

Affiliate link

A link on this page earns work apha a commission if you use it. Disclosed for the same reason.

Corrections

Every venue page has a “Suggest a correction” link. A wrong fact — hours, Wi-Fi, plugs — gets fixed as soon as we can confirm it, usually within days. A fair opinion built on the facts is not something a correction request can remove — see /terms.

If something’s actually wrong

If you spot a genuine safety issue at a venue — not a matter of opinion, something that could hurt someone — email hello@apha.work and we’ll flag the venue for an urgent re-visit ahead of our normal review cycle, out of order if needed. This isn’t a substitute for contacting the venue or emergency services directly when it’s genuinely urgent — it’s how you tell us so the page reflects reality as fast as we can make it.

About the imagery

Photos of actual venues are always taken by us, on a real visit — never generated, never stock. Decorative imagery on pages that aren’t about any one venue (the homepage, guide covers, empty states) is AI-generated, disclosed here and in the site footer, and never allowed near a venue’s own page, card, or photo strip. Every generated file is logged with its prompt and model in public/brand/atmosphere/CREDITS.md.